Game Novel - Outlast

 Outlast

Chapter 1: Administration Block

"...department of agricultural Commissioner Salazar said changing weather patterns were to blame for livestock behavior and encouraged ranchers and breeders to attend this weekend's seminar on Beula Avenue in Pueblo, And if you're out late tonight you may see some low-flying helicopters near Silverthorne and Leadville."

The radio keeps me engaged and distracted from feelings of both being lonely and being watched at the same time. It was due to that e-mail I had received from an anonymous user that has me driving  uphill towards Mount Massive Asylum. 

"Seems the Arapaho park services will be spraying for an infestation of boxelder bugs."

This is followed by a long static as the voice in the radio vanishes, making my drive even more eerie as I approach the gates of the asylum. 

The headlights of my SUV allow me to see the entrance of the building. Two closed barriers and an abandoned security booth with tainted glass windows glare back at me. I slow down and stop near the entrance barrier. The brakes screech as my vehicle stops. Mount Massive Asylum, owned by Murkoff Corporation, is a psychiatric hospital and is suspected to conduct inhumane experiments, as said in the e-mail and I, Miles Upshur, a freelance investigative journalist, am determined to find the truth. I apply the handbrake and turn off the engine. There is a wind blowing outside and a wolf howling in the distance. The howl sounds like a warning to me but I shrug it off as I grab my journal file lying on the passenger seat. Since this is an investigation, I'll be writing down all the events I face. I open the file and glance at the first entry in my journal. It is the email I received:

September 17, 2013

From: 10260110756@mutemail.com

To: milesupshur@gmail.com

Subject: TIP / Illegal activity at Murkoff Psychiatric Systems

You don't know me. Have to make this quick.

They might be monitoring.

I did 2 weeks of software consult at MURKOFF Psychiatric Systems' facilities in Mount Massive. All sorts of NDA's I'm very much breaking right now but seriously, fuck those guys.

Terrible things happen there. Don't understand it. Don't believe half the things I saw. Doctors talking about dream therapy going too deep, finding something that had been waiting for them in the mountain. People are being hurt and Murkoff is making money.

It needs to be exposed.

Judging by the abandonment of the entrance, I have to say something is definitely wrong here. I close the file and grab two cells and my camcorder which were also kept on the passenger  seat. I insert the cells in the camcorder and it makes a beeping sound as it powers on. I pull the screen out bring the camcorder up to my eyes and begin a test recording. This camcorder is equipped with a high powered night vision, which will come in handy during the investigation. I use the zoom feature to examine the security booth more closely. Then I zoom out and turn on the night vision. The camera screen brightens the view up ahead, fills it with greenish white light. The battery bar on the top right corner of the screen is full, but by using night-vision drains it quickly.

I turn the camera off and put it down. So everything is ready, I'm ready to enter the asylum. I open the car door and step outside. I gaze at the enormous building of the psychiatric hospital. Heavy clouds cover the sky and  produce a lightning without any thunder. The sun is almost set, the night approaches. I notice lights on through the windows on the two towers of the building. Few windows in the lower floors of the building are also lit. So it is not completely abandoned. Another distant howl is heard, sounding like a warning again. I look around my surroundings. As I look back, the gates of the asylum close behind me. I walk towards the gates, no one there.

 

The gates are locked shut. I guess there is no turning back now. A feeling of uneasiness haunts me. I turn around and walk towards the security booth and enter it. It consists of a cardboard box at one corner, a trash can at another corner. Opposite to the trash can is a chair and an office desk, with a telephone, an empty mug, some files, a keyboard and  2 computer screens that are switched on but the cameras connected to them seem offline. There is nothing of interest here. I exit the photo booth and walk ahead, past the barrier towards the entrance gate for people. The gate is unlocked and I easily push it open. The gate squeals as it opens. In front of me stands the evil-looking asylum. I pull out my camcorder and begin recording the sight. My investigation needs to be very detailing. I don't want to miss any important element. I jot down my feelings:

     I start feeling sick just looking at this place. Mount Massive Asylum, shut down amid scandal and government secrecy in 1971, reopened by Murkoff Psychiatric Systems 2009 under the guise of a charitable organization. Cell phone reception cut off abruptly a mile out, more like a jammer than lost signal. The Murkoff Corporation has a long trace of disgusting profit as charity. But never on American soil. Whatever they thought they could get out of this place was to be big. Might finally be the story that breaks the bastards.